Equality For All
by A. Zap
Summary: Love has won! All across the US people are celebrating the victory. Steve, on the other hand, is not so happy, because people are putting words in his mouth regarding the Supreme Court's decision. Luckily, he gets an idea to get back at them and prove he's for equality for all. After "Age of Ultron."


**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or any other superhero by Marvel. If I did, Stony would be a thing. Although, ironically, despite the subject, this is not a Stony story. Go figure.**

* * *

Equality for All

Steve frowned as he scrolled through his Twitter. It had seemed like someone had vomited rainbows all over it.

Actually, he didn't mind that part so much. After all, the Supreme Court's decision was monumental. Wasn't it just par for the course that went a hard-fought victory in a war finally came there was a celebration? Steve personally was glad of the decision. Out of all the things that had puzzled him the most in the future, this had been one of the greatest. After all, there were smart phones and women could walk around in bikinis, which were not much better than their underwear, but two people in love couldn't get married just because they were the same gender? It had seemed ridiculous.

Luckily, ever since he had woken up, great strides had been taken to fix that, and now marriage equality had spread to all 50 states. He smiled as he saw Clint's profile change to have a rainbow across his face.

Steve's smile dropped as he came to another article protesting the decision.

He sighed at it. "Does anyone have an actual legitimate argument against marriage equality besides quoting the Bible?"

"Not really." Natasha said from where she was curled up in her armchair with a book. Wanda looked over from where she was perched in front of the television, watching a story about the historic decision.

"They do know that the section of the Bible they're talking about also bans bacon, divorce, tattoos, and a whole lot of other stuff." Steve kind of knew he sounded like he was whining, but he really didn't get it. "All of which these people probably do."

"Just ignore them, Steve." Sam flopped down on the couch next to him. He glanced over at the screen of Steve's tablet and gave a low whistle. "I wouldn't be surprised if Tumblr crashed today. A lot of people's ships are suddenly looking a lot more probable."

"People's what?" Steve glanced at him, sensing that this was another future thing he had never heard of.

Surprisingly, he heard Wanda suppressing a giggle. He looked at her and could see the glee that she was trying to hide. Though he didn't know why she was laughing, he was glad to see it. The whole thing with Ultron had hit her hard, and her life had been tough before that. Seeing her act her age was gratifying.

"I would be happy to explain it, Steven." Vision walked into the room with Rhodey right behind him. The colonel was texting someone and from the frown on his face, Steve would guess that the military was on his case again for joining the Avengers.

"We are not introducing Steve to Tumblr." Natasha said firmly, looking up. "We wouldn't want to traumatize him."

Wanda sighed. "You never let us have any fun." She said, a slight pout on her lips.

"Right." Steve went back to scrolling and suddenly he came to a halt in shock. "What the - ?"

"What is it?" Sam looked over and saw what he had. He whistled again. "Well, that's not going to end well for them." He muttered.

"What now?" Natasha got up and looked over Steve's shoulder.

"Well, apparently, I'm condemning the Supreme Court on their decision and believe that all gays will burn in Hell." Steve tried to keep his voice level, but inside he was seething.

"What? Really?" Rhodey finally finished his business on his phone and came over as Steve pulled up the full article. He lifted an eyebrow. "You know it might just be me, but this doesn't sound like you at all."

"I never knew you felt this way." Natasha said sarcastically.

"I don't." Steve said firmly. "How could they put words in my mouth like this?" His face twisted with disgust.

"Is it the Fox?" Wanda said as she and the Vision joined them. "I have noticed that they are not the most accurate."

"I would guess that they are making assumptions based on the fact that you are from the 1940s." Vision chipped in.

"Okay, so yeah, homosexuality was illegal back then. That doesn't mean I supported it, or thought it was wrong."

"What are your feelings then?" Wanda asked, curious.

"I support marriage equality. After all, if they're in love, they should have the option of having all of the rights and benefits of married couples." Steve shrugged. "Besides, I don't see how anyone's marriage affects me or why it would matter to me unless I wanted to get married. I don't really see why people are making such a big deal about it and fighting it. Is this something that went out the window with the concept of privacy?"

"Eh." Rhodey said, leaving the huddle to go sit in a chair other than Natasha's. "People just like to be difficult, I think." He picked up the remote and started flipping through channels to find something other than the news. Wanda and Vision followed his lead and settled on the smaller couch. Before long, an argument over what to watch insued.

"We could sue them. You know, for making this bullshit up." Sam suggested.

"The damage is already done. Too many idiots will believe this." Natasha said.

"Though there may be a way to fight back, and show how I really feel." Steve said as an idea came to him. A smile came up on his lips. Sam and Natasha exchanged a glance as they recognized the expression.

"I need to make a call." Steve said as he stood up and left the room. Once he was out in the hallway, he dialed a familiar number.

Luckily, the call was picked up after the first ring.

"Hey, Capsicle. How're you doing?" Tony said cheerfully enough. "All of this rainbow cheer insulting your old-fashioned morals?"

"Not really, though some seem to think otherwise. It's more of the opposite." Steve said. He might have still been a bit mad about the whole Ultron thing, but Tony was the best at what he did. Besides, this plan was right up the man's alley.

"Really? Well, you learn something new each day." The genius said flippantly enough. The soldier figured it was just part of his normal act. "Now, what can I do for you? I would think that you would have everything at the facility."

"How would you like to help me screw with the media and anger a lot conservatives?" Steve asked in return.

There was a short pause. "Oh, you do know how to tempt a guy. What are you up to?" Tony sounded equal parts pleased and intrigued.

Steve outlined his idea to the mechanic. Before the end, he knew that that evil grin, the same one Tony had shown during his and Clint's prank war, was spread across his face. "I like the way you think." Tony said. "Consider it done."

And so it was. Now all Steve had to do was wait until the next time they were called out.

* * *

It wasn't even a week later that a mutant showed up in New York City and caused havoc. Normally, it would be the X-Men's duty to deal with a mutant, but they were busy on the other side of the country where a group had shown. Therefore, it was up to the Avengers to deal this woman who make dozens of copies of herself to rob banks.

The bystanders were the first ones to be shocked then, when Captain America showed up not in his usual red, white, and blue, but a suit that was the colors of the rainbow with a matching paint job on his shield.

Some smiled at the display, sensing what it was for, while others just stared in slack-jawed disbelief. They didn't want to believe that it could be true.

Of course, no one could ask him about while the explosions were still going on, but as soon as the woman was in special cuffs and headed to Professor X for him to deal with further, the reporters started make their way up to the Avengers.

"Captain," the first, lucky, reporter asked, "what has caused the change in your uniform?" He held up a notebook in anticipation.

"Well," Steve said, ignoring Natasha and Wanda's snickering, "as some of you might have heard, the Supreme Court supported marriage equality in all 50 states." Rhodey gave a cough that sounded like something sarcastic, but the Captain ignored it. "To show my support for all those who can now get married and celebrate with them, I decided to not only change my Facebook and Twitter photos, but also change my suit for the occasion." He gave them that smile that always seemed to convince the press that he would never pull a dirty trick.

"You support them?" Someone else asked, shocked, and after glancing at them, Steve said the symbol of an especially conservative network.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" He asked innocently.

Now even the Vision seemed to be holding back a laugh for the befuddled media.

"Well, homosexuality was illegal back in the 40s, right?" That reporter retorted.

"So? It's not now, and it's not like I ever supported. I don't really see how what the gender of the person you like changes who you are as a person." Steve said.

"There were reports that you were condemning the Supreme Court though." A different reporter pointed out, but the smirk on this one said that she knew exactly what was going on.

"Huh? I never said anything like that, and you're the first people to ask me about the issue." Steve replied in that innocent tone and raised his eyebrows. "It seems like someone was just using me and making stuff up. Did they say where they got this information?"

Sam had turned away to hide his smile at the way this was going.

"But – but they're ruining marriage!" That one reporter was back.

Steve tilted his head. "I'm not quite sure how gay people being able to be married is ruining any one else's marriage. Nor do I see how it's any of my business who's marrying who unless it's me or one of my friends. And even if one of them were getting married to someone of the same sex," he gestured at his team, "I would just be happy that they are happy."

"You're Captain America!" That reporter had finally lost it. "You're supposed to represent us! Why are you supporting them?"

Steve finally dropped the innocent act and stood to his full height. The reporter shrank back as he realized his mistake.

"I may be Captain America." He said, his voice low. "But I will support what I believe is right. As for representing America, I believe in the age-old idea of truth, justice, and equality for all, whether you're straight or gay, man or woman, married or not. This was a step forward in granting people equality. Furthermore," he leaned down, getting into the reporter's face, "I have never liked bullies. I would never support people who discriminate or condemn others simply because they are not the same as them. We aren't supposed to be the same."

Steve straightened, and flashed a winning smile. "I think that's enough question for the day. We really are needed elsewhere."

With that, the captain turned and walked away, his team following in his wake. As they were about to get on the Quinjet, he spotted a familiar figure leaning against the wall of a near-by building.

Tony saluted at him, a huge smile on his face. Steve returned the smile and watched as Tony got up and walked to his car to go back to his Tower. He knew that he would have to give the genius a proper thank you later for the new suit and paint for his shield. The captain decided he would do it when he went back to get his shield back to normal.

Still, he and his team grinned, as they got ready to go back home. After all, they had defeated more than one kind of villain that day.

* * *

 _AN: So, in a previous story I wrote in the Avengers category, I got a review saying that Steve would be appalled to be paired with a guy. Now, my personal belief is that Steve is either bisexual or demisexual, and he would be more offended by people saying that he doesn't support people just because they are not straight. In the comics, it has been shown before that Steve doesn't care if you're homosexual or whatever, just that you're a good person. Due to the excellent news last Friday, I was decided to write this story about how Steve would react to the decision. I like the idea of Steve trolling the press. It's also not a Stony fic like my usual stuff, but if you see it, that's fine. I'm sure the subtext is there. See you!_


End file.
